Saturday, March 20, 2010

I was recently asked"why peonies? Well here is the story of my Grandmother. When I was a little girl my Grandmother would take care of me during the day while my Mom worked. She lived in a log cabin that once belonged to my Great Grandmother. In the late morning she would wash her long white hair & go sit under a canopy of trees. It was always about 10 degrees cooler under there. So she loved to sit in her old green & white chair napping the morning away.Letting the cool breeze dry her hair. All around us was my Great Grandmothers garden. Old fashion roses, paper whites, sweet-peas, lilacs, lilies...& so on. Down one side of the garden was along stretch of peonies. I remember the smell of them drawing me to them. I would beg Grandma to let me pick them. I wanted them around me all day. She would tell me no saying that it would bring ants into the house. But, still I would beg for for them. One day she looked at me & said " you know you remind me of the pink peonies. They are soft, feminine, romantic & mysterious. Not like a rose which is also lovely but, can be too formal & stuffy. People see a rose and just see beauty never thinking that it comes with a price of the thorns. Peonies are more friendlier. That is how you appear to the world. But, you also have a second flower. We all do & yours is The Lily of the Valley. A small sweet flower that blooms only during your birthday in May. This flower is more fragile & delicate. This is the part of you that only a few special people get to see. This flower can be almost shy hiding under a bush but, when you find it it's magical. A white light in a dark place. This is the hopefulness you have inside you. These are your flowers. When you see them know that they bloom for only you."